Members of the T.C. Williams Girls Freshman 8 stand arm-in-arm outside the awards pavilion after being presented with their Bronze Medals for their performance at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s National Championship Regatta on Cooper River in Camden, NJ on May 26th. Members of the Freshman 8 include (from l to r): Zoe Gildersleeve, Claire Embrey, Taylor Sanders, Maggie McVeigh, Kathrina Policarpio, Rachael Vannatta, Maura Nakahata, Kyra McClary, Maeve Bradley and Coach Pat Marquardt. (Courtesy Photo)

Three weeks after capturing the Silver Medal as the second fastest boat in Virginia, the T. C. Williams Girls Freshman 8 captured the Bronze Medal as the third fastest boat in the United States.

The Titan girls won this honor at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s National Championship Regatta, an annual, invitation-only two day event that was held this past weekend on Cooper River in Camden, NJ and pitted hundreds of high schools against each other to determine which school had the best crew in the nation.

To earn their medal, the Freshman Girls had to compete in three races over a 36-hour period. The first race, held on Friday morning, was a qualifying heat, which saw the T. C. Girls finish in 2nd Place. The second race, held on Saturday morning, was a semi-final heat, which the Freshman Girls won and which earned them a trip to the Grand Final six hours later in the early afternoon.

In the Grand Final, the young rowers from Alexandria clinched their Bronze by crossing the finish line with a time of 5:17.841, behind perennial power New Trier High School out of Chicago and Merion Mercy High School outside of Philadelphia. The Freshman Girls’ Bronze Medal finish in the National Championship Regatta comes on the heels of their Silver Medal finish in the Virginia Championship for lower boats on May 5th.

The Bronze Medal capped a weekend of solid performances by T. C. Williams rowers at the National Championship. Of the seven T.C. boats

Rowers (from l to r) Nadia Magallon, Alexandra Lemke and Katie Pickup help power the T.C. Williams Girls First 8 toward the finish line in their qualifying heat at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s National Championship Regatta on Cooper River in Camden, NJ on May 25th. The Girls First 8 finished 3rd in the heat and advanced to the semi-finals. (Courtesy Photo)

that were invited to compete in qualifying heats on Friday morning, four boats advanced to the semi-final round of races on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The other qualifying boats included the Boys Varsity 4, the Girls Varsity 8 and the Boys Lightweight 8.

The Titan rowers conclude their season this coming weekend when they travel to St. Catherines, Ontario for the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association’s 67th Annual Regatta. The T. C. Williams Crew Team is guided by Boys Head Coach Pete Stramese and Girls Head Coach Mercedes Kiss.